The U.S. Green Building Council MA chapter produced 2-page guides for the 17 hotels that housed Greenbuild conference participants, called, "A Guide for Boston Hotels Planning for Climate Resilience." The guides outline the risk posed by extreme weather events to each hotel based on their location, a set of prevention solutions and a list of resources.

The link to the guides is here. I recommend that hoteliers look at the guides for their hotel, if listed, or a hotel in their neighborhood.

Alison Brizius, Director of Climate and Environmental Planning, City of Boston Environment Department

Boston is the 4th most vulnerable city to financial loss from sea level rise in the U.S., and 8th most vulnerable in the world. We face sea level rise of 4 to 8 inches by 2030, more hot days (20 - 40 days over 90 degrees after 2030) and more intense precipitation that will result in stormwater flooding.

Climate Ready Boston is developing strategies to protect the City from these occurrences. Resiliency plans have been developed for East Boston and Charlestown. The planning process has begun for South Boston and other neighborhoods.

In light of the trend towards increasingly severe weather events, like the storms that devastated Puerto Rico and parts of Houston, and rising sea levels, it makes sense for hotels to review their plans for weather emergencies.

In Houston, 30,000 people were housed temporarily in hotels.

If Boston had a similar disaster that closed Logan Airport, roads and rail transportation; shut down electricity for an extended period; cut off hotels from their suppliers; required hotels to house their staff; and cut off other staff from the hotel--how would hotels respond?

Mr. Newman depicted the emergency plans for Waffle House, a 24/7 restaurant chain with an extraordinary plan to react to weather disasters. It enables their restaurants to stay open, serve their communities, communicate with their employees, coordinate with local officials and support emergency crews. Waffle House believes that their effective response to disasters has earned them community loyalty.

[Previous BGT presentations about how hotels can prepare for weather-related emergencies are here and here.]

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC) makes it easy for businesses to donate their nutritious unused food to local soup kitchens and shelters.

Businesses enter a description of their leftover food onto the RLC website and store it at the proper temperature. Shortly after that, RLC volunteers pick up the food and take it to non-profits that serve the needy.

There's no liability risk for food donors, thanks to the 1996 Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. There hasn't been a lawsuit against food donors since this law was passed.

Donors qualify for tax breaks, based on the enhanced deduction provisions in IRC 170(e)(3). RLC provides donors with the necessary paperwork.

Mr. Gaines was going to discuss the latest news in Fault Detection & Diagnostics (FDD) for HVAC, but he fell ill. I'll reschedule his talk for 2018.

FDD systems reduce energy use and improve guest comfort by promptly identifying HVAC equipment issues and prioritizing the corrective actions that need to be taken.

The cost of installing FDD has recently plummeted, because it's no longer necessary to program or customize it upon installation. Facilities can now achieve ROI's in months, not years.

If you want to inquire about the BuildPulse FDD system, contact Mr. Gaines (sean.gaines@buildpulse.com, 978-272-0279).

IDEAS

EC Motors Make Sense for Hotel Pools

EC (electronically commutated) motors are much more energy efficient than single-speed motors (shaded pole and PSC motors). They're also quieter, they generate less heat and they reduce maintenance bills.

EC motors can replace many small and medium-size motors. One great ECM application is for hotel swimming pool pumps, because they reduce energy use by 40% - 80%. While these motors cost $400 to $600, they quickly pay for themselves in energy savings. The Century brand claims an 18 month payback. If your property qualifies for a Mass Save incentive, the payback will be even faster.